The subject invention relates to sealing systems for building foundations for prevention of moisture ingress into the foundation or basement area through the foundation walls or otherwise. In this respect, sealing systems for foundations are not new, as several basement and foundation sealing systems are well known.
It is the intent of this invention to provide an improved and effective sealing system that provides complete and total moisture blockage, and one that will not require repeated repair or construction efforts to alleviate moisture problems in the basement and foundation areas. Existing sealing systems do not provide effective sealing means for the purposes stated, therefore, the subject invention is conceived accordingly.
As a background, it is noted that in foundation structuring for buildings, basement walls are adapted to enclose a spatial area under the first floor of a building. As such, basement walls are designed and structured to resist the lateral or side pressures of both soil and water functioning as vertically disposed cantilevers between the basement slab and first floor slabs. Concrete or block structures are the ideal composition for such walls.
For purposes of maintaining moisture resistance, that is, moisture ingress into the interior basement area through the walls or floors, several basic means have been utilized to help alleviate the problem. Some of the more prominent methods have been the reduction of exterior hydrostatic pressure, integral structured tightness, membranes, or surface coatings, in addition to other means. Each such method has specific shortcomings. For example, coating the interior of the basement wall is relatively ineffective. Interior sealing in the basement area may be avoided to some measure by heating or ventilation. In some instances, drainage pipes with spaced perforations disposed strategically outside the basement walls reduce lateral hydrostatic pressure as long as they can be drained into free-standing outlets. These latter methods have not proven to be totally effective, particularly when hydrostatic pressures and moisture volume vary.
The use of partial membranes along only the outside surface of a basement wall has been a method seen, however, such membranes have generally employed fabric, tar, or asphalt disposed flush on the outside wall as a continuous layered coating over the outside wall as a continuous layered coating over the outside vertical extent of the wall. In some cases, the vertical membrane is in turn covered on its outside surface by concrete or masonry creating a layered effect. This system has proven to be only moderately effective, and is relatively expensive.
Yet another frequently used and expensive method of waterproofing has been to apply a coating of waterproofing to the outer surface of the basement wall—usually this process involves the use of bituminous emulsion or mastic without use of an external membrane. One major disadvantage of such a system is that the reliability thereof diminishes when subjected to a substantial hydrostatic pressure for more than four hours continuously.
By reason of these described problems with prior art methods for moisture barrier protection, the subject invention has been conceived. The following delineated objects of the subject invention have been set forth accordingly.